One day after head coach Scott Stricklin lamented his team’s poor approach at the plate, Georgia hitters put on a different kind of show Saturday against visiting UMass.

A 10-run second helped do the trick, propelling the third-ranked Bulldogs to an easy 16-2 win before an announced Foley Field crowd of 2,621.

“Before the game we just talked about having good at-bats, no matter if you strike out, ground out or pop up,” said Cole Tate, who went 4-for-6 with a home and four RBI, falling a triple short of the cycle. “All we did was talk about having a good approach.”

Cole Wilcox (3-0) was the beneficiary of all the offensive support.

The sophomore right-hander was able to shift into cruise early, scattering four hits, a first-inning unearned run with no walks and six strikeouts. Wilcox’s five-inning effort helped the projected first-round pick lower his ERA to 1.57 in 23 innings over four starts this year. He’s struck out 32 batters during that span.

“My fastball command has been the biggest difference from last year to this year,” Wilcox said. “Today, it was kind of shaky at first then I found it, but yeah, everything plays off that pitch so having that fastball and putting it where I want to, it lets me throw a lot of other things off that.”

Tate, meanwhile, had a game he won’t soon forget, blasting a two-run homer and driving in another run with a single, one of six straight hits the Bulldogs (13-2) had with two outs, accounting for eight of the 10 runs.

The 10 runs represented the most in one inning for Georgia since 2018 at Kennesaw State when the Bulldogs scored 11 in a 14-4 win against the Owls.

“We definitely were better today, and that 10-run inning really got going with an 0-2, hit-by-pitch, Shane Marshall gets hit in the shin with two strike and two out, then we had 10 or 11 straight hitters reach base after that,” Stricklin said. “We had some really good at-bats in that inning, got some good RBI.”

Tate wasn’t done.

An RBI double by the junior gave him a career-best four RBI for the Bulldogs, who added a run in the third and five more in the fourth, making the score 16-1.

Needing a triple to complete the cycle, Tate led off the sixth with a double down the left field line, but was rightfully held up at third. Tate grounded out to third leading off the eighth to finish off his 4-for-6 afternoon

“He just continues to work hard. He’s gotten stronger, the bat speed is better, he’s got a good approach at the plate, so you’re starting to see that,” Stricklin said of Tate. “He can play anywhere on the infield. He could be our shortstop next year. The defense has been his strong suit and that’s something he needs to continue to get better at this year, but offensively, he’s been really good.”

Georgia outhit UMass (1-7) 17-6, with Cam Shepherd, Tucker Bradley, Connor Tate, Riley King all had two hits each with Shepherd, Bradley and King each driving in three runs.

Sophomore pitcher Jack Gowen gave Stricklin an encouraging outing. The seldom-used reliever took advantage of his two innings, walking just one and striking out a career five.

Cain Tatum followed with a scoreless eighth with two strikes while Darryn Pasqua allowed a run in the ninth but struck out two giving Georgia 15 for the game.

“That’s the best Jack has thrown the ball since he’s been here. He came in here as a guy we thought could be a really big part of our staff, and he’s continued to work. He’s a hard worker and a tough kid,” Stricklin said. “Cain, we were watching his warmup pitches and he just didn’t look right to me, then all of a sudden he got dialed in when the lights came on. It was good to see him do that. I think Darryn was a little unlucky, giving up a seeing-eye single at the end but I thought everybody on the mound did really good today.”

Boxscore

…Shane Marshall’s second-inning steal was the first of his career.

…Tucker Bradley’s two-run double extended his streak of reaching base this year to all 15 games.

…With his second 4-for-4 game this year (he had one against Richmond), Cole Tate boosted his average today from .308 to .392.

…Country music star Luke Bryan attended today’s game.

Georgia and UMass conclude their three-game series Sunday at 1. Logan Moody (0-0, 0.00) will start Sunday’s game for the Bulldogs in place of C.J. Smith. Smith is not injured, but has struggled recently locating his changeup and is putting in extra work to get the pitch corrected.